Wednesday, November 26, 2008

I have a warm cup of café con leche in my hand, which I’m taking sips from while composing sentences. It’s cool in Mexico City these days but golden too, because every day there’s a full sun, unabbreviated by clouds. Today is no exception. Through the open window in my apartment, squares of yellow light spill onto the floor, where they lie like mosaics when the shadows of olmos trees tessellate the ceramic tiles. One by one, the leaves stir in a chill breeze that brings faint traces of sulfur up from Versalles, where peseros trundle loudly over potholes, hauling passengers to Reforma or Insurgentes.

On a Wednesday morning, the street corners of my neighborhood are crowded with torta vendors, each one frying eggs on smooth oiled griddles in their portable carts. So the sidewalks around intersections are crowded with clusters of salary people in suits, clutching quick breakfasts to eat rapidly before work. A little bit further up the block, there’s a woman that sells big Styrofoam cups of jugo, made from oranges and grapefruits that she squeezes by hand on an old metal press. Sometimes, the fragrance is so strong that you can taste citrus on the tongue as you pass by.

This is a city with a special vibrancy: with flavors that are potent, colors that are diverse, and sounds that are utterly memorable. One could find endless creative insight here, I suspect. So, in honor of the inspirational nature of the Distrito Federal, I want to bring you some images from a particularly brilliant Etsy artist who happens to call Mexico City her home. It’s rosiemusic.